Your Friendly Neighborhood: Overwatch
by Val Steele
Summary: A world full of conflict has left the people to look for blame. An organization about to be disbanded is on it's last leg to prove to the world it's loyalty to justice and peace. Cadet Oxton, a rather younger operative in Overwatch, has been tasked with finding out if the rumors of corruption in the New York are true. If so, She may need to find a once great but lost hero for help.


The air boomed with noise as the dropship door lowered. The craft was quickly filled with the ice winds of Switzerland as the heat from the ship stormed out to meet it. Lena looked out the newly opened door into the hanger as the crew began to pour out into the hanger of the base.

Lena, AKA 'Tracer', always hated coming here. It wasn't because the massive facility wasn't well kept or didn't feel safe. In fact, it was probably one of the safest places on the earth. No, she didn't like it because she wanted to be out in the world saving the day like the hero, she felt she had become. She wanted the thrill of danger that came with the job and getting another chance to make a difference. It was all thanks to another hero a while back that she even had the desire in the first place.

"Lena!" she heard in a loud German tone.

She looked over to her right to see a large armored figure with a massive hammer turning towards her. He wore large robotic armor that was blue and black, very much like her own suit and cadet hat. She had to look up to see his elderly face looking back with such a jolly look.

"You can day dream about adventure later, right now there's a feast waiting for us in the hall!" boomed her ally and friend, Reinhardt, before the giant stormed out the door into the cold.

"Right behind ya, REIN!" she called out as she grabbed her bag and blinked out of her seat at super speed. This wasn't the first time Reinhardt had teased her, nor would it be his last. He probably had the biggest heart out of anyone in Overwatch that she knew. Teasing was just his way of showing that he cared.

She dashed out onto the familiar flight deck. It was large, being able to house just about fifty craft at a time. It had one large hangar door that allowed access in and out of the base, along with guards to keep it secure and to welcome the teams home.

Tracer glanced around with a wide grin. She had trained to be a pilot, so seeing all the jets and aircraft here was always exciting until she needed to go inside. This was the only place at the base that hit right at home with her. She also felt sad as she remembered the incident that cost her months of her life, then quickly smiled and looked down at the accelerator on her chest. That incident was the reason why she had her amazing powers and could go out on the adventures that she had come to love.

She then looked back up to see her team near the hanger doorway ready to go through security. She also caught a glimpse of her breath as she exhaled, and suddenly was reminded of the cold weather that she was not dressed for. She quickly blinked her way across the room to catch up with her team and get back to a heated room…

 _Later…_

"...and it looked like the sniper had me in his sights when suddenly Cadet Oxton seemed to appear out of nowhere on the balcony with him and watched him stumble over the ledge she pushed him on and into the dumpster below!"

As Reinhardt loudly shared the last bit of the story, he slammed his mug on the metallic table for emphasis. Tracer rolled her eyes as a grin crossed her face.

"It was nothing" she responded in her cheery accent," taking out the rubbish is in the job description, right?!"

The table laughed at her joke as they continued to enjoy their meal. Tracer looked around at everyone. She saw Angela first, aka 'Mercy', the head doctor and top medic of all Overwatch. Next to her was Torbjorn, the leader in the engineering field. They weren't field agents anymore per say but occasionally would head out to join in on some 'fun' as they put it. There was also Genji, the cybernetic ninja and McCree, the outlaw with a sense of justice. Their operations were a bit more covert and wouldn't really share much about them. However, Genji was one of the first people she had met and he would come to catch up with her, usually with McCree not far behind.

She smiled to herself thinking about how much she loved and trusted these people. They really had become a family to her, only Winston was missing from this group. That thought jolt her back to the present and she returned her attention back to Reinhardt. He was one of field commanders and would constantly pick and choose who to call in for assignments. Genji and McCree would occasionally come to help if the circumstances were dire and if they received the clearance from Director Morrison. For the most part though, it was up to good old Rein to decide what the team needed.

Rein had just finished taking a swig of his drink as he wiped his mouth. He was considerably shorter when he wasn't in his armor, but he still towered over most people. He looked over at Tracer before his eyes moved passed her and his grin faded a bit.

"Welcome! Have you come to join the celebration?"

Tracer looked over her right shoulder and she felt her heart sink as she saw two level three guards standing there. These guys always were a stickler when it came to the fun around the HQ, especially because they were very strict on the rules and regulations the UN had set for Overwatch… a LOT of regulations. The worst part about them was their lack of emotion behind their face masks: you couldn't tell if they were eve.

One of them turned and seemed to glance at Tracer and say:

"Director Morrison wants to see Cadet Oxton immediately," replied a deep, slightly robotic, monotone voice. Tracer was a bit taken back and looked at the guard sharply.

She assumed that this was a mission debriefing and said:

"Well love, I already gave my report with the rest of the team. Why don't you boys tell him that and then come have a few laughs with us!"

The other guard sternly shook his head and then moved closer till it was face to visor. Naturally she retracted from him.

"We couldn't care less about your debriefing. This concerns something that's actually important. Come ready to be briefed on a new assignment. You should have been there five minutes ago, 'time-traveler'."

Tracer's blood began to boil a bit as the two guards turned about and walked away, laughing with each other. She let her anger pass as her heart sank a bit in her chest. She turned back around only to look down at her food. It was silent at the table until they left the mess hall before Tracer heard a western voice to her left:

"They certainly could use either a few drinks… or a fist. I'd be happy to supply 'em with either, free of charge."

Tracer felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to her left to see Mercy smiling at her:

"It's ok, these international guards won't be here for long. I'm sure of it!" Mercy stated, smiling as Tracer lifted her head to look at her friend.

The rest of the table tried to cheer her up with a few more jokes before she rushed out to go meet Jack Morrison, the director of Overwatch. She was good friends with the director and was eager to get to see him. He had been the driving force to allow Lena to remain in Overwatch after her "accident" with the Slipstream jet. Because of him, she was able to prove her worth to the organization, though she wasn't feeling to sure about it now after the UN guards. Still, she was excited to see her friend. It had been a while since the two of them chatted.

She blinked between people, hallways and doors at super speed. She tried to imagine what kind of assignment it would be: would she have to follow a group of Talon operatives undercover? Perhaps it was finally going to be her first solo mission leading a new squad. Whatever the case, she was exciting and tried to ignore the awful feeling she had after the manner she received the news from.

She blew through level one and two security checkpoints with ease. They all knew her and greeted her as she passed, seeing as this was her third year being a part of the organization. These were the people that Overwatch stationed for guards. She was not so lucky when it came to the level three checkpoint outside of the director's office. The UN decided it would be best to assign the new guys to guard at higher levels or something.

Despite being the only person at the checkpoint, it took over fifteen minutes just for them to check, double check, and triple check she was the real deal. She also didn't like the vibe that these men gave off: even with their masks on, she felt uncomfortable and always got the creeps around them and what their eyes were staring at...

Eventually, they reluctantly let her through and she stormed through the doors to the director's office. She quickly shut the doors behind her, exhaling out a deep breath before looking up and smiling.

"Ah, Lena, nice to see you again."

Director Morrison smiled as he walked towards her with his hand extended. She quickly grasped it and shook eagerly.

"Director Morrison! Pleasure as always!"

She began to walk towards her seat as she glanced around the room. It was dark, with only the light hanging from the ceiling that illuminate desk, but not much else from the room. There were papers and objects all over. She glanced behind the desk to see a giant map of the world from a light blue holographic display. It was bright enough to pierce through the dark, but not enough to light up the room.

She now was at her chair and focused back onto Jack. They both respectively took a chair, and after a few minutes of catching up Tracer brought up her complaint.

"What's with the gormless twits the UN had us bring in? They seem like they got a stick up their back side and are always ready to start a fight."

Morrison just shook his head as he leaned back in his chair.

"These people are from the _Sable International,_ private military. By way of the UN, the idea is to keep peace in the world. Truth be told, we aren't in any position to argue with the UN at the moment. They can be a little hard headed, but after their issues with the country, the UN decided that it would be good if we employed them for the sake of world peace."

She sighed a bit and sunk back in her chair.

"So, they're here to stay then?" She asked, rather annoyed. She didn't like them and really didn't want them to stay so long as they acted like they were from Ireland. Morrison smiled at her, and said:

"I've been working on it with the UN on the issue. Pretty soon they will be transferred to other _Overwatch_ facilities. Consider the ones here as a test run to see how they would react with Overwatch employees."

Tracer popped right up in her chair as she felt a huge grin cross her face.

"I knew you Yankees were good for something!"

Director Jack Morrison let a smug look on his face appear before having a more serious tone cross it once again.

"Well, we can celebrate about that later. Right now, we need to talk about an important assignment for you."

He continued:

"I'm sure the rouge Bastion units and Talon terrorist from today's operation were taken care of quickly and quietly?"

Tracer nodded in agreement as the director let out a sigh of relief.

"That's the third time in two weeks that some terrorist has found a low-key base with battle Omics. The attackers came, they attempted, they were captured. They either never learn or there's something else going on here. You were assigned to two of those operations, correct?"

Still a bit confused as to why she was asked to come, she responded and gave the details of each operation. After she finished, there was a moment of silence before Jack Morrison stood up and walked over to the gigantic map that was directly behind his desk.

" I read your reports on both of the operations. You feel like that the enemy did not seem to put up much of a fight when compared to your first year in the field, right?"

Tracer nodded her head.

"When I first got here, my first assignment was King's Row. That was one hell of an operation. Also, was what got the UN's panties in a knot if I remember correctly. Anyway, since then it seems like terrorist strikes aren't even trying anymore. It's like they are there for the sake of being there."

Director Morrison paused for a moment to let all that sink in before he responded.

"You aren't the only one to say that. The UN is very concerned about the recent terrorist activities across the world. They have spiked more recently than they have in the past few years. However, with how sloppy these past few attempts have been it would seem that they aren't really the main focus of Talon. The UN aren't happy with the situation either way. Actually, they feel like there isn't really a need for Overwatch anymore as of recent. There have been talks about disbanding us all together actually."

There was an uncomfortable pause in the air for a moment before he carried on.

"The Omni Crisis started us off as a world-wide organization with the funding from the UN. Ever since King's Row, however, the whole world has had us in the spotlight in a bad way with these attacks not helping our case. We still aren't welcome in America due to the revelation of Blackwatch. Them being revealed to the world has dragged our reputation through the mud."

He was now staring at the U.S.A. on the map.

"We are a global organization that's trying to keep the world safe. People just don't understand that not every hero is the knight in shining armor. Overwatch is seen as the bad guy right now. We need to help change the world's mind." He turned around to face Tracer. "SHIELD is trying their best to work with us. They're just trying to save the world just like us. In fact, they are probably the only other organization on earth that is on our side. They were on our side during King's Row. We earned their trust and now we need to regain the trust of the rest of the world.

"Officially it cost us a lot to get any relationship with them in America. Unofficially they have been looking for a way to get us back to our previous status. The incident at Grand Central Station seemed to be the ticket for them to let us help build the police force in New York City to show the world that we really do want to help and that we can. We are slowly gaining respect again for the work being done in New York and we need to continue that streak. We are running out of time."

He turned and began walking towards the right. Lena thought about when she just joined. She remembered it was when the foundation for a new _Overwatch_ force to be established in one of the most crime filled cities in America: New York City. It had just been implemented and over a year ago after the explosion in the subway station and Overwatch jumped at the chance to help fix and maintain safety for the people of the city. New Yorkers praised the new systems and began to sympathetic towards Overwatch. It was actually her favorite city in America. She had a visit to the city years ago that inspired her to become a hero in the first place.

She turned to see a bookcase filled to the brim with old history books, war books, and world culture books. Jack stopped just a foot from the case and reached onto one of the shelves and picked up a small picture.

"The whole world knows that tensions are high right now. The whole world depends on us, the entire Overwatch organization, to regain the trust and respect we were known for."

He turned and walked back over to Tracer. He held the picture out towards her, and she took it in her hands. It was a picture of a younger Jack Morrison and Gabriel Reyes. They were back to back, laughing like lifelong friends.

"That brings me to the assignment. It's not something that I am happy about and I wish there wasn't a need for it all together. But with days like these we need to make sure there is nothing for us to hide from the world. I want to tell you that up front so there's no surprises."

Tracer felt a bit of fear course through her and she looked up from the picture at Morrison. But she quickly steeled herself and responded.

"You can't scare me off after a speech like that! Count me in! I won't let you down."

He chuckled, then looked her in the eyes and said with full confidence:

"I knew I could count on you. This will be an undercover operation that may expose a huge conspiracy in Overwatch itself."

She paused for a second, taken aback and not sure what to say. He continued.

"This is the last thing that I would have expected from anyone in the organization. Hell, I trust everyone here with my life. But it seems some may be taking advantage of that trust and we can't afford it anymore. Back in the early days of Overwatch there was a research lab that the organization invested into. It was what started off the world-wide race for genetical engineering. Eventually it was absorbed into the ownership of the city of Oasis in the middle east and converted into their secondary research lab.

"Eventually Overwatch requested a larger push for medical research and the lab's main focus is genetical engineering, headed by a former agent of Overwatch that will be in your briefing. The direction they have been taking over the last few years seems to have diverted from restoring fallen operatives to downright changing them into something new. The main concern is their recent acquisition of a small-time company called Octavius Industries headed by one Otto Octavius.

"The concern is that the local directors there haven't been reporting about missing finances. Furthermore, about the same time the Public Safety Force, called the PSF, have not been detailing their reports the way they have been since being established. Commander Reyes is head of the PSF there. Any report in or out goes through him. They used to go above and beyond what we asked but now they just report the bare minimum. That was about six months ago. Gabe says there's no issues and things just aren't happening anymore but I'm not sure anymore..."

He walked behind his desk and opened a draw. He removed something from the drawer and after closing it he walked back over and handed her a manila folder with CIVILIAN written on the side.

"This is operation CIVILIAN. It is a covert operation that is known by very few. Believe it or not, it was Nick Fury, head of SHIELD that approached me with the idea." He paused, as if expecting a reaction before he continued. "His people know the importance of Overwatch in the world and are trying their best to help us stay alive. However, activities in the city have caused his people to look into it. The operation entails Overwatch selecting special operatives from across their roster to be tasked with lives in the city. These operatives will be assigned to go undercover and live civilian lives in their respected fields.

"These operatives will be sent to investigate both the PSF and the Laboratory to find out the truth of what is going on. You are to keep this mission from the public at all cost to maintain what reputation Overwatch has left. I selected operative that are generally unknown to the vast majority of the organization and the world while at the same time only people I trust dearly. I have handpicked three operatives for this operation." He looked Lena straight in her eyes. "You are one operative I trust for this assignment."

The words seem to freeze time for a moment as Lena's heart seemed to stop. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She almost began to visibly shake from the excitement she was now feeling. She focused on doing everything in her power to not jump up and run around the room so much that she didn't notice the grin that engulfed her face.

Then it occurred to her what city she would be visiting again, and if there was any chance for her smile to double in size, it did. Maybe, there was one in million chance, just maybe she would get to see...

"I would assume since you already said it, don't even need to ask if you are wil-" was all he was able to say before she shot to her feet and began rapidly shaking his hand up and down to the point that his arm might be ripped from his socket.

"IAMHONOREDANDTHRILLEDTOBEAPARTOFTHISASSIGNMENT! OHICAN'TWAITFORITIWONTLETYOUDOWNSIR!" exploded out from her mouth. After a few seconds she finally realized what was going on and she quickly let go of his hand. "I am so sorry sir, I just got super excited about the whole deal! This is my first operation and-"

Morrison held up his hand.

"It's alright Cadet Oxford, I understand. Just try talking a bit slower. I could hardly understand you, kid." She nodded, and he continued. "This will be your first major operation. I remember my first major opt as well."

Tracer stopped to think about that.

"This isn't a solo opt, sir? You said I was one picked, but are there others?"

"Make no mistake, you will be alone with your assigned task," he replied "however, as you will read in the briefing prepared for you, you will have no idea who your allies are. They will be hidden from you and you from them. This is to ensure the utmost secure and covert operation this organization has attempted. A civilian chosen by the SHIELD director, one that he knows well, will be given some story and reason why you are there. Again, it's in your briefing. You need to fool him into believing the story in your assignment.

"You will be a solo Overwatch operative with a local civilian. This is strictly a need-to-know basis operation. If there is corruption in the organization, we need to have men and women to neutralize the threat before it can spread. You need to live and even believe the story so that no one can be the wiser. You will be given a dummy mission to tell your team and be shipped off in a few days as is also in the briefing. You will need to memorize both your fake mission as well as your real one in case people start asking questions. As of right now, only the director of SHIELD and myself are the only two men on this earth that have all the details about the operation."

He turned back to his desk, now picking up another picture from it. She could see it was a picture of the his old team back before Overwatch was a large organization. It was Torbjorn, Mercy, Gabriel, Anna, and Himself.

"You just can't trust people these days like you used to…"

His voice was filled with sorrow, probably over the loss of his friend. Tracer looked back down to the picture in her hands of him and Gabriel. It hit Jack Morrison pretty hard when he lost his dear friend to the enemy.

Lena sterned herself, saluted towards Jack, and replied with:

"Well, sir, Cadet Tracer is ready for duty!"

Jack turned his head over, and a smile crossed his face.

"I wish every operative had your spunk, kid. You've really proven yourself and I know you won't let us down."

She stopped at those words. They reminded her of something someone in New York told her long ago. In fact, it may have been those very words that drove her to becoming a pilot in the first place. She snapped back to attention when Director Morrison continued.

"One last thing before You leave: make sure to keep your eyes open. You will be the first and last line of defense if things go south. You will report directly to me and only me, with instructions as to how and when in the briefing. And trust no one that's already there. If there really is something going on, we will have no idea who is friend or foe. Don't forget that.

"We are trusting you, Lena. I believe in you. Your optimism never fails, even in times like this. You are dismissed. Good luck, Cadet."

She turned to leave but paused when Morrison added "And don't get your hopes up, kid, about seeing him. He vanished after the incident at Grand Central Station. He probably hung up the tights and moved on."

She felt her heart sink in her chest just a little bit. Deep down she felt it was true. She tried to hide her sadness with a hollow smile, quiet nod, and she was out of the room in a blink of an eye running at full speed towards her quarters to begin packing and preparing. She thought about those last few words but quickly pushed them from her mind and let her optimism take control. She couldn't wait to visit in New York again! Maybe there was a chance she would get to see that hero that saved her all those years ago. It was a long shot, but she would never forget the day...

 _About Eight Years Back_

"Lena, you need to keep up with the rest of the group!"

Lena stopped staring up at the large building called empire state and looked to see her classmates already on the tour bus, waiting on her. She gripped her back filled with souvenirs tightly and bolted for the bus doors, sad about the last day of the trip. It was an expensive trip to come to New York and tour the whole city, but one well worth it. Now, fifteen-year-old Lena Oxton, was trying to enjoy her last day in America before heading home.

She bolted past her teacher onto the bus and quickly found her seat at the back of the bus. They boy she sat next to let her sit on the inside next to window, her assigned seat. She plopped her bag down and sat down, now turning her attention to her teacher. Her teacher, Mrs. Bray, began to explain the history of the final historical landmark that they were going to visit: Wall Street and the Stock Market. She talked to the kids about how it was this very place that caused the world to enter into an economic depression. She talked about it how it even affected their home country and that the kids should go and ask their grandparents about it to see how.

Lena remembered being too busy looking out the window at passing people as they walked, ran, and zipped back and forth through the busy streets of New York. It was incredible how alive the city always felt even at night. Though she enjoyed looking at the people, she was more concerned with what was happening above the streets in the skies. She had heard about there being a hero that would swing from building from build, one that had ropes that would come out of his hands. Being fifteen years old and with a sense for adventure, she so desperately wanted to see if he was real. However, so far all she saw was empty skies with the occasional window cleaner doing their job.

She looked back over to her teacher, who continued her lecture about history that every kid on the bus was bored by. Lena found herself looking out the front windshield of the bus. Right this moment, the bus had been stuck in the very same spot for about ten minutes with traffic not moving at all. She watched as people were yelling at each other, getting out of their cars, and all looking forward.

" _Sheesh, these Americans really need to work on their rubbish public transportation. England's works WAY better."_

She watched as people began to slowly get out of their cars and begin to walk forwards down the road, so see why traffic was at a standstill no doubt. As she looked at the driver of their bus he seemed to be relaxed and not having a care in the world as if this was just another day.

The boy next to Lena spoke fairly loudly as he was talking with his chums.

"For such a cool city, it would have been cooler if we were able to see a REAL hero, like an avenger. All anyone ever talks about is that menace, Spider-Man."

Lean turned to her right to face the boy. His name was Jonathan, and he was a bit of a snob, coming from a richer home. She decided to intervene.

"What do you mean by that? Spider-Man IS a hero."

The boy turned to face her, and with a big grin on his face, he began arguing about how in this whole week there wasn't a single sighting of him by anyone on the trip, and that most of the media and papers claim him to be the villain. She argued that was probably because crime didn't happen every single day, especially with the news of him patrolling the streets. They began shouting at each other and everything elevated to the point where they ignored everything around them, including their teacher.

Suddenly the screams from outside of the bus overpowered theirs, and Lena turned to look out the front of the bus. She saw hordes of people running up the street passing the bus and shouting something about a Rhino. Lena looked at the bus driver who was relaxed what seemed to be a minute ago to panic as he stood by Mrs. Bray, whispering something into her ear.

Fear took over her teachers face as she turned to face the students.

"Everyone, off the bus NOW! We are having a Bus evacuation!" She shouted. A second or two passed of everyone sitting in silence from shock. Then suddenly, kids exploded out from their seats. Lena, being at the back of the bus in the corner, was the last one to get up and was stuck behind the line of her classmates due to their panic. They were halfway to the door when she stopped in a panic and realized she forgot her bag! Her phone, notebook, and journal were in that bag! She couldn't bear the thought of leaving it.

She whipped around and ran back to her seat, stumbling over her feet from the how fast she turned. She wasn't used to going fast and ended up face down on the bus floor. She quickly scrambled to her feet and bolted back to her chair. She found her bag, slung it over her arm, and turned to a sprint for the door before freezing half way there. She looked out the now empty bus to see the cars and vehicles being pushed off cars of the road at a very fast pace towards the bus. With no time to think, she dove into the seat to her right. The second she landed the whole bus vibrated like it was hit by a truck. There was the sound of glass and metal shattering, and kids screaming and running. Mrs. Bray was shouting for the kids to run before the sounds of her class faded.

Lena was pushed up against the chairs and found herself falling down at the foot space for the seat. After a few seconds, the bus stopped moving. And there was a few more moments of silence.

"BUG! Where'd you go?!" she heard a deep voice boom from the front of the bus. She felt fear tear through her at the very sound of it. Still, she lifted her hands off of her head began to rise to her feet. She needed to get out of there ASAP!

 **THUMP!**

"Up here you big dult!" another voice proclaimed from the top of the bus. The _thump_ came from the top of the bus. The voice that followed sounded much younger than the other one, and full of confidence too. "Listen, Rhino, is it? You realize you're insulting real rhinoceroses everywhere? I just can't stand by and let kids think real rhinos are this dumb looking."

Lena turned her head to look at where the first voice had come from and nearly wet herself. The front of the bus was all smashed up, the driver's seat crunched beyond recognition. The damage had smashed up the floor and the windows all the way to just two seats from where she had dove. Out the broken windows on the left side of the bus, she saw a large gray figure towering next to the window. His head was just barely visible. His face was a normal man's face, one that seemed very violent and full of rage. The rest of his head seemed to be covered in an armor of some sorts, gray in color, and it did in fact look like a rhino hide. On top of his head there was a large horn with a smaller horn just above it. And he was looking at the top of the bus.

He let out a cry that seemed to imitate a roar before charging into the bus again. Lena had no time to react and let out a scream as she felt the entire bus forced back before slamming into the wall of the building; the Empire State. She flew back against the seat, along with the now shattered window glass falling on top of her.

"WHAT?! Wait, NO! There's still a person in the bus you big zoo reject!" She heard the young voice cry out. Now on her back, she was looking up at the ceiling for a second before she clambered back up to her feet. She didn't feel any pain, only adrenaline and panic.

"Oh, is that so? Then try and stop me, Web-Head. It'll be your fault for not dying first."

He seemed to be smirking with his words, and Lena looked back towards the window only to see the bus wall across from her severely indented. It came right up to the side of her seat, stopping centimeters from her feet. As of now, the front door on the bus was smashed against the building and she had no way to walk down the main aisle anyway. Also, with the building being up against the bus she was unable to climb out the windows behind her. She looked to her left and saw that the back half of the bus seemed undamaged and began to climb over the seats in an attempt to get to the emergency exit at the back.

"There you are!"

She whipped her head to her right to see the face now staring directly at her, with an evil grin spread from ear to ear. She screamed as she leaped down onto the main aisle past the damage and bolted for the exit. Suddenly in her path a large grey arm punched through the bus wall directly in front of her, causing her to collide with it. She felt the massive hand grip her so tight she was wheezing for air. She was the pulled out from the bus only to get her backpack snagged on something. The Rhino man gave another tug, ripping her bag and causing her leg to catch a jagged edge. She winced at the pain as she felt a warm liquid begin to spread down her leg.

She was brought eye level with the man, a few tears in her eye from the pain of her leg. Her eyes met his, and she saw was malice. His grin went from ear to ear. His face was covered in dirt and heavy sweat.

"So nice of you to join u- MHFFF!"

Weird white stuff, seemingly out of nowhere, quickly covered his face. He let go of Lena, causing another scream as she fell. Suddenly, she felt something connect with her back and with another tug she was sent flying through the air. Everything seemed to stop for a moment. It was something that came unexpectedly. The wind through her hair, the adrenalin in her blood, and the thrill of it all: She liked this feeling.

She turned her head towards where she was sailing, and her eyes widened. It was a figure, about as tall as she was, covered head to toe in a bodysuit. It was red and blue, with a black design that resembled webs all over the red parts. His head was also covered like so, with large white lenses on his face. Her heart skipped a beat: it was the Spider-Man.

He stood on top of another bus across the street with his arms wide open to catch her. He held in his hand a very white rope that lead to Lena's back. In these few precious moments, she thought she felt a grin spread from ear to ear. He was real, and he was about to save her.

Time resumed and before she knew it, he caught her.

"Little lady, I hope you realize that Rhinos really aren't roaming these streets"

His head turned to her as he spoke, and she felt her fear melt away. She chuckled and nodded at him. She was expecting someone older to be the famous hero, but with his height and voice, he was probably about her age.

A sudden roar snapped her back to reality as she whipped her head back over to where the rhino was.

"Don't think we're done yet, BUG!" He shouted as he charged through several cars straight for them. Spider-Man picked her up quickly and leaped high in the air. He extended an arm outward, and after making a rocker sign with his fingers, a weird _thiwp_ sound came out followed by the white stuff from earlier. They swung back across the street and landed just behind a yellow taxi. He placed her down, then said:

"You should hide. I'll be back to check on you in a minute!"

With that, he leaped over the cab and charged back at the Rhino. He fired his webs at the beast and pulled himself towards his foe, only to get slammed in the face with a massive fist. Spider-Man was slammed back into a car with enough force to push them both backwards. Lena gasped as she watched Rhino stamped the ground for a few seconds, then charged with his head downwards straight for the webhead.

 **Crash!**

Spiderman quickly recovered and had rolled out of the way just before the beast hit, and what was left of the car after was nothing but a junk pile.

"Missed me again! You know, if I were to record this and post it to YouTube with the title 'How not to Squish a Spider', I'd probably get famous!"

Enraged, the Rhino grabbed what was left of one of the doors to the car and hurled it like a disc in the direction of Spiderman. It slammed into the side of another car, not far off from the web-head.

"Next one is gonna pulverize YOU PEST!" He shouted while throwing a second door from the car!

 **SLAM!**

Spider-Man jumped over this one while shooting his webs at it. He landed and swung it around, keeping its momentum.

"I'm not too sure you know how to use the term 'pulverized' correctly!" Spider-Man shouted as he let the door fly towards the Rhino.

 **TINK!**

The door hit its target only to come to a dead stop and fall to the ground. Rhino looked up back at Spider-Man with a wild smile on his face. Spider-Man in Return, exclaimed rather loudly:

"REALLY?!"

With that, the Rhino charged him.

Cars were thrown, moved, and pieces of metal, plastic, and glass scattered through the street as the fight pressed on. Back and forth Spider-Man moved with such agility that shouldn't even be possible for a normal human, all while cracking some of the funniest jokes she had ever heard. Rhino was charging, smashing, and throwing everything around trying to get to Spider-Man.

All the while Spider-Man seemed to be moving randomly while also leading Rhino to certain cars to move. After about a minute or so of this, Spider-Man landed in the now cleared road directly behind his foe.

"You know I've met wrestlers stronger than you. Can I take you back to the zoo and get an exchange for a stronger rhino?"

Rhino whipped around lighting fast and roared:

"YOU WANT STRONG?! I'LL SHOW YOU STRONG!"

He then whipped around and slammed the ground where Spider-Man was, hitting the wall-crawler into the earth. The next thing Lena saw was the ground give way and both of them tumbled into the dark below. She gasped aloud, worried about him before her leg began throbbing. She glanced down to see the very bottom of her pant leg a dark red color. She slid to the ground and pressed her back up against turning her leg to examine the wound. It was on the outside of her cafe about as long as her middle finger, but it wasn't too deep. She tried her best to stop the bleeding, but she didn't really have anything to wrap it in. Plus, the more she touched it the more it hurt.

A loud noise from the hole caught her attention and she peeked from behind the cab to see what was going on. Her eyes widened as steam rose out from the inside of the hole. A LOT, of steam. Then there was a loud crash from just up the street and all she could see was more steam shoot up high into the air. Then another one going down the other way just after that. It began to get hotter, and Lena sat back down. She hoped Spider-Man was ok. What was she thinking?! Of course, he was ok! He was a superhero after all! She looked back at her leg, wondering if she could find anything to wrap it with. Maybe in her bag-

" _My BAG! It's probably still over by the bus!"_

She tried to rise back up to her feet, but immediately fell and leaned against the car, her leg throbbing with pain. It wasn't terrible, but for a fifteen-year-old not used to it was more than enough to get her to slide back down and hold her leg, not sure what to do next. It had been several minutes now since the two fell into the hole.

She let her mind wander so that she could ignore the pain for a bit. She began to imagine about trading places with Spider-Man just for a minute or two. She wanted to save the day, feel the thrill of it all, and be as confident as he was. But how could she when a simple bus wall did this to her?

"Told you I'd be back in a min- OH MY WORD, YOU'RE BLEEDING!"

She whipped her head back over to see Spider-Man, now covered in water and sweat, land next to her leg. He held her leg with one hand while moving it with the other.

"Yeah, I'm no doctor, but that looks like it stings."

She nodded in agreement, and before she knew it, he extended his hand right above the wound.

"Nothing a web-band aid can't fix!"

That weird 'webbing' was now coming out of his wrist, and it covered her wound. It felt warm and sticky, kinda like warm putty on her leg. In a matter of seconds, he was done sealing up her wound. It smelled awful, but it would stop her from bleeding out. He must have seen her face in response to the smell because turned to look at her.

"Well, at least it gets the job done!" He paused for a moment, probably expecting a response, but Lena was still in a bit of shock, so he continued. "Look, I'm sorry if I ruined your day. I kinda do that to a lot of people."

Lena stopped for a second and whispered to herself aloud:

"...ruined my day…"

His head lowered and his whole demeanor changed to slouch.

"I figured as much… I understand if you want me to just go no-"

Lena cut him off and exclaimed "YOU MADE MY WHOLE TRIP TO NEW YORK AMAZING!"

Spider-Man jumped back in shock before she continued.

"Everyone on the bus said you weren't real! Other kids on the trip were scared because they thought you were a menace! BUTYOUJUSTMADEMYWHOLEDAYBYSHOWINGUPANDSAVINGME! ICAN'TWAITTOTELLEVERYONEABOUTYOUANDHOWFUNNYYOUAREANDTHATYOUSTOPPEDAGUYTHATLOOKSLIKEARHINO! OHMYGOSHYOUAREREALANDAREAMAZING!"

Her words were flying out of her mouth now, and Spider-Man just was there tilting his head as if puzzled. She couldn't help but blush a bit.

"I'm so sorry! I talk kinda fast. That's what my teacher tells me anyways! It's also my first time around here and most people have a hard time understanding me."

Once again, he just squatted there not moving. She was still speaking a bit fast.

"Ok" he began, "I couldn't understand a word of what you just said there, but I LOVE THE WAY YOU SPEAK!"

She stopped and looked at him for a minute, wondering if he was joking. Most people made fun of her accent along with how fast she spoke.

"You really do?" she said, a bit slower. He nodded his head as if he was a bobble head.

"Oh my gosh is it cool! No one here sounds like that! Where is your accent from?! Where are you from now thinking about it?!"

The next few minutes was him asking HER questions about home and why she was here. Here he was, the hero of the day, and he wanted to know about HER! She loved that and opened up to him about her home, the trip, and what she wanted to do in life. After a few more questions, she began asking him questions starting with where Rhino was. He proudly proclaimed that the overworked animal was having a nice steam shower to relax a bit. She fired off a few more question at him like how long he had been doing this for and whatnot before he said they should probably go find her teacher and the other students. He said he saw a gathering of people just up the street, and he bet his Queens accent that that was where they would be.

"Can we grab my bag first? I may have dropped it when I was pulled from the bus."

"Of course! I'll get it right now. Wait just a spider second!"

With that, he flipped over to the bus and disappeared inside before jumping right back out and over to her, bag in hand.

"Now, remember: it's important for us kids to stay in school and we have to have the tools to keep us there!"

She chuckled and reached for her bag before stopping mid-way. She glanced at his head.

"Us kids?"

He panicked and muttered a few things under his breath before returning his attention to her.

"Please don't go and tell anyone! I'm just about to turn sixteen here pretty soon!"

This really caught her attention. He was going out and being a hero at her age. He really was young. She then thought about the whole event: the panic the chaos the rush of it all and what they were doing right now. She loved it! She now really wanted to be a hero to. She sighed on the inside though, because she didn't have any amazing powers like he did.

She returned to the present and smiled from ear to ear.

"Don't worry, love, your secret is safe with me!" she said in a cheery tone as she saluted him. She watched as he visibly sighed in relief.

"Thanks a ton. Now then, I feel obliged to ask what your name is."

"Lena. Lena Oxton."

He extends his hand out towards her.

"Never heard of a Lena before! Nice to meet you. I'm Spider-Man. Spider hyphen Man!"

She laughed at his emphasis, and then he began to speak again.

"Now then, let's get you back to your teacher and school mates. Can you walk?"

She tried to get to her feet and succeeded. Not without a bit of pain and groaning though. She looked back at him and he was shaking his head.

"Forgive me for doing this..." he then picked her up in the bridal position, "...but I can't have a pretty girl like you in pain and walking. Please keep your seat belt fastened at all time and remember to enjoy the RIDE!"

As he said the last few words, he leaped into the air and began swinging with Lena gripping him tightly. She looked down and saw how high they were. She also felt the air rush through her hair and loved it. However, she did not love the wind in her face. She would need to get glasses or something if she wanted to rush around in the future.

Sadly, it all came to an end all to soon for her. They were where the group had gathered and before she knew it, and she saw her entire class pointing at them. Soon enough, everyone from the crowd was pointing up towards them.

"My, you must be famous for gathering quite a crowd!" Spider-Man joked as he landed on the ground next to Mrs. Bray. Lena didn't even have time to laugh as Mrs. Bray ran and hugged her from His arms.

"Sorry I couldn't return her without a scratch," Spider-Man said, rubbing his neck and looking down. Mrs. Bray turned to him with a smile.

"Non-sense! You saved her from that- that THING! That's more than enough. Thank you, Spider-Man,!"

"Yeah, saved her from a problem that he CAUSED!"

Lena turned to see a woman from the crowd shouting at the hero. She had anger seeping from her face as she talked about how her insurance wasn't going to cover the cost of her car getting smashed. Another man spoke up about how if Spider-Man didn't show up, there wouldn't be a reason to call her insurance because she'd be dead. The crowd was not divided and joined in on the argument.

Lena turned back towards her hero only to see him slouched and turning to leave. She shouted at him to wait a second, and he turned back to her. She hobbled up to him fumbling with her bag, and eventually pulled out a journal and she had in there. She had been recording her whole trip in it, and now wanted the best souvenir she could ever get.

"Could I get you to sign this for me really quick before you go?"

He now had a much lighter aura about him as he grabbed it and a pen from her hand.

"I mean, if you insist. It's the least I could do for what happened to your leg!"

He scribbled something down in the book, handed it back to her, and then swung away before anyone could rush him. Police who just ran up had their guns trained on him, but he was long gone around the corner before they could do anything about it. They quickly turned their attention back to the crowd who were now in a very heated debate about the web-slinger. Lena didn't care. She felt her classmate run to her side and look at her journal. Her eyes couldn't leave the page because she was in disbelief about what she was seeing. She read it over and over again and again and again. It said:

 _Lena, Thanks for motivating me! You know, with your optimism, the world will be a better place. You'll be a big hero one day because of it. Visit New York again!_

 _\- Your Friendly Neighborhood,_ **Spider-Man**

 _Present Day_

Lena, sitting on her bed in her room, smiled every time she read that message. Eight years later she still loved to come back to her journal and read all about that day. She looked over to her side where a Spider-Man plushy sat next to her pillows. She was a fan ever since that day, and everyone here knew it. She had kept tabs on him here and there reading newspaper articles, internet pages, and even following his social media account! She would constantly share with everyone about his heroic deeds and the villains he fought. However, as the years went by it went from daily to weekly to monthly updates on him.

Sadly, the last real update she saw was from a blog in New York. It was about how sightings of Spider-Man had dwindled ever since the Talon bomb blew up half of central station. A few people died, and Spider-Man wasn't seen again. New Yorkers were terrified that Spider-Man was gone for good, nor that SHIELD would do anything to help out. They were too busy with the world terrorist. That's how Overwatch was able to get their foot in the door and offer to help the police force. Sadly, that left New York saddened that they may have lost their beloved hero. Spider-Man's name was dragged through the mud by some and missed by others.

She let the moment pass glanced back at her old journal with smile. She couldn't wait to get to New York! Even though she had a mission to do, she still felt obligated to find Spider-Man. Her file did say she needed to get accustomed with the local area and he was a pretty big part of it. That, and with the help of the civilian, she would learn to blend in as Lena OX: reporter for the Big Ben News in England! She was going to pose as a reporter for one of England's biggest news networks to get the public's opinion about the research done at the facility. This would be the perfect cover for her to be asking so many questions and what not. She would get the real scoop on the importance of genetic engineering and why New York should let Oasis continue to be allowed there. That made her story a bit more believable: a brand-new reporter on her first international story.

On top of that, she would be able to find him and try to inspire her hero. There was no way she was going to let him stop being the hero she loved and idolized. She would have to get him back on his feet again.

She glanced over at the file again and picked it up one more time to make sure she knew the occupation of the civilian she was getting help from. She had only been able to skim through the file and the information it would contain. She didn't get to read everything, but she found the important parts: her cover, the fake mission, and the name of her civilian. She continued to read the name again and again, getting more and more excited as she did. He was currently a scientist who just finished a breakthrough in genetic splicing. He worked under Otto Octavius and was transferred with him over to the Oasis team. The story was that he would be her guide through the facility and she would see if she could find out anything to report on. She was NOT to stop the threat, seeing that she was still newer than the other operatives. She was to report and wait for instructions to what to do next. The person she was assigned was in reality just her way into the city and her personal guide with no questions asked. The tricky part of it all was that he would have no idea what her true intention is. What he would believe was that she was important to SHIELD, and that he needed to help her get the news scoop on the facility while blending in.

The reason she was excited though was because the paper he used to work for was the Daily Bugle, the biggest paper that New York has ever had. Even better, it was said that he was the dedicated photographer for getting pictures of Spider-Man! He was the only one to figure out how to get them in crystal clear focus. Action shots, swinging shots, portraits, he got them all! If anyone knew how to find Spider-Man, it had to be him.

"This is gonna be wicked!" She shouted as she jumped up and dashed around the room, returning to packing her things. Officially, two days from now she would be on her way to Germany to be on rotation with some other operatives, but within the week she would unofficially be undercover as a reporter exploring her favorite city! It was pretty well thought out, and she would receive even more information when she arrived in America.

She packed more and more into her bag on the floor. She paused when she saw her journal on her bed. She thought for a second, then made the decision to place it in her bag. She was determined to meet her hero again and wanted to be motivated with her story. She then looked at the file again and read the name of her civilian assignment one last time. Peter Parker, the man famous for taking Spider-Man's photos! She was sure he would help her meet the hero again. Maybe him seeing her after all these years would remind him of the impact he really has. He wasn't just another superhero, he was the people's hero.

She stopped for a minute when the reality of it all hit her. Her file said she needed to do one last check up on her equipment before leaving. She couldn't risk having her accelerator go bad while she was away and cause her to get lost in time. She shuddered at the thought of that hell again. As soon as she got control again, she dropped what she was doing and rushed out of the room. The head scientist at the main facility was the one that made her the accelerator, and he happened to be her best friend her. They were on the team that brought in the famous terrorist, Doomfist. The battle caused a lot of damage and they both got beat up pretty bad. He was hurt so bad that he took a break from field work after the fight.

As she raced down the hall, she thought about how she would need to only mention to him about the Germany opt. This was going to be pretty difficult for her, seeing as she was a chatterbox. She decided hanging around him would be good practice for trying to hide her mission. Even if she slipped up, he was trustworthy enough to keep a secret and even give her tips on how to help out. She figured hanging around him would be good practice for trying to hide her mission. By the time she was around this Peter fella, she would be ready. She dashed full speed down the halls on her way to see her good friend, Winston, before she set out to save the world.


End file.
